how long do withdrawl symptoms last with klonopin?

Your friend is lucky to have you. You are going to save her from going through a living hell. The first thing she needs to do is get back on her Klonopin now and stabilize. Then her doctor or psychiatrist should have her switch to Valium (Diazepam). Valium stays in one's body longer and will help in her withdrawal. If she doesn't get back on her meds now tell her she can have a seizure if she doesn't. That's not even the worst of it. Once she's stabilized (it can take weeks), she'll be ready to get off the nasty drug. If the doctor does not want to put her on Valium, she needs a new doctor. There is a slight chance that she won't respond well to the drug. If she doesn't, she can still withdraw off of Klonopin; it will just be more difficult.  

In the meantime, you or she should look up "The Ashton Manual"; it's free on the internet. The manual helps people slowly taper off of benzos. I also recommend that she buys "The Benzo Book" by Jack Hobson-Dupont. Actually, here it is - I just found it for free on the internet: http://www.thebenzobook.com/benzo/pdfs/the-benzo-book10.pdf  

Okay, you've got those resources, and me. And she can also join some benzo recovery forums. So, at the end of The Benzo Book are two tapering schedules - I followed the slower one. I am now at .5 mg.  I started at 5 ml a year and 4 months ago. So, going from 5 mg to 0 will have taken me a year and a half. Time passes anyway. No need for your friend to rush her withdrawal. It's dangerous and uncomfortable.

I tried to go off valium too quickly at first. It dawned on me that my anxiety was being caused by my benzo. So, I tried to be responsible and take only three-quarters of a 5 mg pill. Neither my doctor nor my psychiatrist had any idea how I should taper. Within 10 days of starting to taper on my own (taking three-quarters of a 5 mg pill) I started feeling violently ill. I was trembling from the moment I awoke until I went to bed, and felt horror and dread and couldn't eat and ended up in the emergency room twice. I nearly died.

Finally, I found out about the Ashton Manual. I saw that one is supposed to taper by 1 mg. a week until they get to 5 mg. Then, they should taper by .5 mg every week or two. HOWEVER, if your friend is naturally prone to depression or severe anxiety, she should go down by .25 mg every two to three weeks. (She will need both 5 mg and 2 mg prescriptions from her doctor. If the doctor doesn't know what the hell to do, your friend can direct him or her to both of the books I recommended). I am prone to depression, so I made "cuts" of .25 every three weeks. (If you taper too quickly you can get post-acute withdrawal syndrome, which could last years and years.)  At first the tapering was very difficult. But, it got easier and easier. Now, I don't even feel as if I'm on benzos any more. Each person has their own experience. But, I can assure your friend that she will have "windows" of feeling fine.  

I would suggest that, once she gets to 1 mg. she should taper by 1% a day until she is done.  So, the last 1 mg. takes 100 days; it's called a liquid suspension taper (I think). I can give you info on how to do that if you contact me. It's really easy. There is so much more to say. PLEASE contact me if you would like. I can give your friend my number and we can talk. Again, your friend is so, so lucky to have you. She's going to be okay.

I have been on Klonopin for about 6 years, I take 3mg's a day, one in the morning and 2 at night, I have been wanting to get off them for quite a while but I am afraid if the terrible withdrawals, I have tried to get myself down to 1mg a day in the morning and it seems to be ok so far, eventually I plan on slowly going down to a half a mg in the am and eventually a quarter mg. I just want to feel alive again and feel lifes stresses without masking them by popping a pill. I have an 11 months old daughter and I know the long term effects are not good. I am going to give it my best and slowly and gradually ween myself off of it. I know it is not going to be easy but I want to have feelings again instead of being a zombie, I don't want to pop a pill every time I feel anxious or stressed out, I also take celexa and that is my next thing, I feel like in due time I can learn to meditate and take a few deep breaths and get through it without popping that little green pill. If anyone is also on the same page I am then feel free to email me and we can do it together,

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, we can do it together. We all need a support group so lets do it together.

Yes, I have been on klonopin for almost 5 years now and have lost certain amount of hair over the last 5 years. I truly believe that klonopin is causing so much damage to our health and looks. I have brown blotches all over my face ever since I started using this stuff and I keep on forgetting things or from time to time I can barely make a decent sentence. It did help me with my anxiety. But at the moment I am trying to not use it anymore. Five more years of klonopin and I will probably end up bald, suffer from speech slur, have no desire to do anything and the list goes on. I am wishing you good luck with this sondra52.

I have been on just 0.5 mg of Klonopin once a day for many years. I recently discovered that it's been the medication that has actually PREVENTED me from having dizzy spells, which I used to suffer from very badly when I was not taking it. Now I realize i may have been getting the dizzy spells simply from withdrawal... However I tapered off very slowly so maybe it really was a sinus issue or something else causing the dizziness...all I know is that if I take it regularly, I don't have dizzy spells. Unfortunately, I was on a recent trip, sprained my ankle, and was stuck at a friends for more days than anticipated without any Klonopin. I started getting vertigo, hot and cold, intense sweating, chills and shaking. Now I FINALLY got the refill on the 0.5 mg but I wonder how many days will it take for my body to adjust and get back to normal? My heart keeps fluttering, I'm sick of sweating through my clothes. UGH. 

It's something going through this. It's amazing how much you miss out on when you feeling down and out. I just want more answers as to how and why did this ever begin. 2007 was the year I began having what was dignosed with Panic disorder how do I shake this Klonopin thing Lord???

Klonopin is a beast to come off of for some. I can tell you that I had been taking klonapin and/or xanax for 15 years and stopped taking them this past July 2012. I am part of a support group online. Withdrawals can last months to even years. The first two months were the worst. I had night sweats, hallucinations, severe anxiety spikes, drowsiness, pain in my stomach, vertigo (felt like I was drunk or on a boat), short term memory problems, head hurt(not a headache, it just hurt), depersonalization...I am 8 months off now and a lot of the symptoms have gotten much better. I still have depersonalization and anxiety spikes but for the most part I am feeling better. My point is don't let anyone give you a time frame and make you feel like what you're going through is any different than others with withdrawals. Just know that as horrible as it can be it's completely normal withdrawals and that it does get better.

i was on clonazepam for about 10 years for 2 chronic pain diseases and had to go off it because I began to feel like I was getting early onset Alzheimer's and I'm only 54 years old. I was at Walmart and while I DID pay for some items, I totally overlooked some others and got slapped with handcuffs, taken to jail and charged with felony. When I saw my pain doctor a few days after he said he was 100% sure clonazepam was causing my forgetfulness, fogginess, couldn't get my words out, saying crazy things, etc. I slowaly titrated off this horrific med per docs instructions and did OK until about 4 nights ago. I CANNOT FALL ASLEEP!!! Even if I take ZZZZquil I cannot fall asleep until 2-3 a.m. AND I have day/night sweats so bad that my jammies are soaked to the point of having to change. I hope these symptoms go away fast. I NEVER make appointments or go out with friends until after noon because my nights are so bad due to the 2 illnesses and now going off this med is adding insult to injury. I go to court this Monday at 9:00 a.m. and I'm so dreading the night before, knowing I won't sleep. If you're taking clonazepam for recreational reasons, although I don't see why anyone would want to, I certainly didn't feel "high". Coming off it can wreck your life and if you have a job and have to go to work you will certainly regret it. I'm on disability, so I don't work, but if I did I know I would be showing up late or not going to work at all.

Are you feeling any better? I have been going through withdrawal for about 7 weeks and when I started to feel better about 4 weeks ago I though I was through the worst. But then I got new and more intense problems. I too have severe digestive issues. Sometimes I feel I can't breathe. Heart palpitations and tremors inside my body. Body aches. And probably more that I don't even know are side effects. The negative thinking is constant. Every once in a while I contemplate going back on it but so far I haven't.

Thank you. I needed to hear what you said. I haven't been on them too long maybe two months, but the anxiety if awful. I feel scared to go anywhere. I am scared about everything. I am poor have disabilities and don't know if I can live through this any more.

I can't believe that any doctor let you stay on that poison for 30 years!! Get a new one....please....I was on 3 mgs for 8 years. Everyone's different of course. but what has been working for me is to drop by .25mg a MONTH. I have been doing this for over a year, but the good thing is that the withdrawal symptoms are manageable. I have had a life during this time!! I am now down to .25. Everything that I have read tells me that the final drop, to zero, is the hardest and can stay with you for months. But, after everything I have gone through I'm nlot stopping now....Stick with a plan and good luck to you. Richard

I was taking klonopin for 10-15 years to help me sleep. I have Reflex Sympathet Dystrophy, which affects the limbic region of that brain that controls sleep; I can't MAKE myself go to sleep!! Because of big time cognitive issues - forgetting things, couldn't get my words out, doing things out of the ordinary, etc. When I told my pain dr his first impulse was to take me off klonopin, and it worked! But, the side affects were/are a living hell. I will never blindly take any med that my doctor gives me again without numerous questions.

This stuff is bad, bad, bad. Yes, it helped me sleep at night, but after coming off it slowly, by psych orders, I only slept 2-3 hours a night for 3 weeks, my body jerked uncontrollably, severe migraines, night sweats that would soak my sheets, and upset stomach. Now it's been 6 weeks and my stomach is still not good. I basically lost all of April and now 2 weeks in May. I have lost 15 lbs, which I didn't have to loose. My PCP said: "After 3 days Klonopin is out of your system" (yeah, right), and he didn't think my symptoms were related. Funny, every site I go to has all of my symptoms listed.

If you are thinking about taking this drug - DON'T DO IT!!! It may help you in the interim, but when you stop taking it you will go through hell and back - well, I'm still waiting on the "back" part.

Hope this is helpful.

This sounds like BS....if you need special meds...go online most vitamins are not big $$,offensive!

I have been on KOLONOPIN for close to 10 years and right now I have decided to live with taking 1mg a day. There is so many side effects after I tried to get off a couple of times. So since it's only 1mg I am not getting off

Sondra, I lost about a third or more of the hair during my Klonopin taper from June to November 2010. I developed psoriasis on my scalp when I began tapering off Klonopin, going from my daily tablet or half tablet (usually just half: .25 mg) which I had been on for 6 years. I had never had psoriasis, placque or otherwise, before tapering. Five plus months later I went off completely, went to the ER with complications of GERD/rapid HR. I believe I was physically dependent on the drug and that hair loss/psoriasis/increased HR was my body's reaction to taking it away. By the way, UV light treatment therapy on my scalp resolved 99% of the condition and most but not all of my scalp hair has grown back. The GERD: well, it's still around.

I will never get on them aagain either it has been a nightmare I did notb want to experience... the dizziness , light headed, buzzing in my ear,, vomiting uggghhhh , usually after have dinner it is really bad our get upset... really hard when I'm At work... say prayers for me please... it has been almost 2 months , after 11 years taking them...